In the last week, Patrik Laine has been the subject of much conversation. The forward missed two games due to, officially, the flu… which doesn’t look good when you know the team is in the midst of a playoff run.
And especially when you consider that he’s had a second bout of the flu in two months. That doesn’t look very good either.
And since then, everything has been discussed: a contract buyout, a trade this summer, and more: there are people who no longer want Laine in Montreal.
Earlier today on BPM Sports, Martin Lemay wondered if the Canadiens could afford to let Laine go this summer.
And that’s the point I find interesting: even if Laine can be frustrating at times, the Canadiens can’t afford to start the next season without him.
When Laine arrived in town last summer, we knew he was rusty. Health issues (physical and mental) had kept him out for a long time, and we suspected he would need time to get back in shape.
And if that wasn’t enough, in training camp, he suffered a knee injury that could have easily ended his season before it even started. The good news is that he returned to play in December…
And now he has 15 goals and 26 points in 35 games.
I ask you: if a rusty Laine, coming back from a knee injury, can score 15 goals and 26 points in 35 games, are you really ready to let him go this summer? I’m not saying he’s a perfect player and that the Canadiens should extend his contract, far from it, but the team needs Laine right now.
Letting Laine go would put even more pressure on the first line… and it would remove a talented player that Martin St-Louis could pair with Ivan Demidov, an excellent playmaker, next year to facilitate his arrival.
There’s a world where Laine continues to score at 5-on-5. That being said, even if he’s only there to score on the power play, he still has a use: yesterday, for example, he scored at 5-on-5, but he still allowed the Canadiens to get a point against the Kraken in a game where the team was lifeless.
Do you really think the Canadiens would be in the thick of the playoff hunt without Laine’s contribution? If you answer yes to that question, I invite you to watch a Canadiens game from November, when things were going so badly that we were calling for Martin St-Louis’ head in town.
And in the best of worlds, if Laine can avoid injuries this summer, he might be able to become a force at 5-on-5 again with a full offseason.
Because yes, Laine has already been a force at 5-on-5… and if he can become that again (to some extent, minimally), the Canadiens will be happy to have an option to help Demidov. Already that the team has to be ready to pay for a second center, so it’s not worth voluntarily shooting themselves in the foot by letting a winger go who, at his best, is an important contributor to the top 6.
